Kraven the Hunter is a long-time adversary of Spider-Man and one of the hero’s greatest foes. The Spider-Man villain will finally be getting his own movie. But what is Kraven the Hunter’s story in the comics?
Kraven the Hunter will be the fourth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) following Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and Morbius.
So, who is Kraven the Hunter? Here’s what we know about Kraven the Hunter’s origin, powers, goal, and more.
Where Is Kraven the Hunter From?
Kraven the Hunter is a Russian villain who made his comics debut in The Amazing Spider-Man issue #15 in 1964. His real name is Sergei Kravinoff.
According to Marvel Comics, he was born to Russian aristocrats and raised in Volgograd and St. Petersburg. Sergei grew up with his half-brother, Dmitri Smerdyakov (Chameleon), who lived with the family as a servant.
The Kravinoffs fled to the United States after the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917. After his father’s death, his mother was sent to an insane asylum where she killed herself.
This led Sergei to become an orphan, and he learned to survive with his wits and cunning. He eventually started traveling and living in different cities in Europe and Asia.
He discovered that he had a natural talent for hunting and decided to live on his own in the African veldt. It was around this time that he anglicized his name to “Kraven”.
During his adulthood, Kraven became a wealthy big game hunter. He remained in Africa for 10 years, and it was during this time he took a witch doctor’s herbal potion that gave him his abilities.
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What Are Kraven the Hunter's Powers and Abilities?
In Marvel Comics, Kraven the Hunter got his powers by regularly ingesting a potion made from unknown jungle herbs. He has superhuman physical abilities such as enhanced speed and strength.
Kraven the Hunter also has heightened senses of smell, sight, and hearing which he uses when tracking and hunting a target. He is also a master hand-to-hand combatant and tactician.
In the SSU movie, there are changes as to how Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Kraven the Hunter got his powers. The trailer shows that Kraven got his abilities from a drop of lion’s blood.
It happened when his father took him on a hunting trip. His father told him to shoot a lion, but Kraven failed to shoot in time, which led him to get bitten by the lion.
As he was unconscious on the ground, the lion’s blood dripped into an open wound, which gave Kraven his superhuman abilities.
From the trailer, we know that Kraven the Hunter uses his connection with animals to track his prey. In one scene, it seems that he can look through the eyes of animals like birds for surveillance.
So, from the trailer, it appears that Kraven the Hunter can control animals and communicate with them. Additionally, actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson said that his character is “an animal lover and protector of the natural world” (via Variety).
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How Old Is Kraven the Hunter?
Apart from granting him superhuman abilities, the potions Kraven ingested increased his lifespan and slowed his aging process.
Thus, despite being over 70 years of age, Kraven appears decades younger than he actually is.
What Is Kraven the Hunter's Goal?
Kraven the Hunter’s goal is to defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the world’s greatest hunter. His half-brother Chameleon proposed to Kraven that he hunt down Spider-Man.
Spider-Man defeated Kraven and from then on, the villain made it his goal to beat him. He saw Spider-Man as worthy prey and believed that hunting the hero would prove that he was the greatest hunter in the world.
Kraven the Hunter became obsessed with hunting down and besting Spider-Man. This obsession even went beyond the desire of defeating him.
Kraven the Hunter also wanted to prove that he was better at Spider-Man’s role than the hero himself, so he impersonated him.
Kraven donned a Spider-Man suit and beat up criminals in New York just to prove his point that he’s better than Spider-Man.
Notably, Kraven’s obsession with Spider-Man also led to him becoming one of the founding members of the supervillain team the Sinister Six.
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What Shows and Movies Has Kraven the Hunter Appeared In?
Kraven the Hunter has appeared in various television shows, some of which include 1966’s The Marvel Super Heroes, 1994’s Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The Spectacular Spider-Man, and Ultimate Spider-Man.
As for films, there were attempts to include the character in previous Spider-Man movies, but the ideas were never realized.
Director Sam Raimi planned to include Kraven the Hunter in his fourth Spider-Man film before the franchise’s reboot. Kraven the Hunter was also rumored to appear in the proposed The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
Additionally, Kraven the Hunter was considered to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Black Panther, but this didn’t push through.
So, the character will have his big screen debut in Kraven the Hunter, which will be released on October 6, 2023.
You can watch the trailer for Kraven the Hunter below:
Kraven the Hunter's synopsis, as provided by Sony Pictures:
Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.
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